Battery drain

ScreenName13E00D2154
ScreenName13E00D2154 Forum Participant Posts: 15
edited May 2022 in New to Caravanning & Touring #1

Hi, we are novices having bought first Motorhome 2 months ago. It’s an Elddis Autoquest 130  (2010). Does anyone know if the alarm system drains the engine battery. If so can it be disabled. Something is draining the battery when we are not using the MH. We have just bought a new battery to be sure its not an issue there. Should we take the battery off the vehicle over the winter months?

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  • Tinwheeler
    Tinwheeler Forum Participant Posts: 23,135 ✭✭✭
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    edited May 2022 #2

    Alarms and particularly trackers will drain a battery as will a control panel or anything left turned on. You need to establish which battery feeds your alarm and it probably is the vehicle battery rather than the leisure battery. 

    Most people suffer from flat batteries when the van is unused and overcome it by plugging in to house electrics or use a solar panel to keep it charged. Remember that removing a battery could render your alarm and tracker ineffective and thus invalidate your insurance.

  • ScreenName13E00D2154
    ScreenName13E00D2154 Forum Participant Posts: 15
    edited May 2022 #3

    Would plugging into house electrics via hook up cable keep the engine battery charged. If so how often would it have to be done?  We thought it only charged the leisure battery. As I said we are very new to all this.  Thanks for taking time to respond. 

  • Tinwheeler
    Tinwheeler Forum Participant Posts: 23,135 ✭✭✭
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    edited May 2022 #4

    It depends on your charger controller whether or not it will charge the engine battery. Some do, some don’t and some are switchable between the two batteries.

    An alternative is to connect the battery to a smart charger such as a Ctek. Charging for  8 hours or so a week might be enough but you’ll soon find out.

     

     

     

  • EmilysDad
    EmilysDad Forum Participant Posts: 8,973
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    edited May 2022 #5

    if you use a Ctek as above, you can connect to the battery, plug it in & then forget about it ... you don't need to keep disconnecting & re-connecting them. 

    It wouldn't be a very good alarm if it was easily disabled 😉

  • Tinwheeler
    Tinwheeler Forum Participant Posts: 23,135 ✭✭✭
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    edited May 2022 #6

    True, it should have its own battery but we don’t know if it’s good or not🙂

  • DavidKlyne
    DavidKlyne Club Member Posts: 13,857 ✭✭✭
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    edited May 2022 #7

    Some manufacturers don't automatically provide for engine battery charging via the mains hook up. Neither of my Baileys have had this option. The solution I have used on both motorhomes (suggested by another member of this forum) was to have fitted a device called a Battery Master. It works in the background and is a fit and forget item. Basically it pushes any excess charge from the leisure battery, which is charged via the mains, to the engine battery to keep it in good condition.

    David

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